Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children with Down Syndrome

2006

AIM: The aim of this project is to conduct a population based epidemiological study of the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in children 3 to 10 years of age who have Down syndrome. BACKGROUND: The majority of individuals with Down syndrome show relative strengths in social functioning. Several studies report that individuals with Down syndrome show lower levels of psychopathology than other individuals with mental retardation, including a protection against specific disorders like ASD. Though relative strengths in social functioning may exist in many individuals with Down syndrome, other studies suggest that they may actually be at increased risk for autism/ASD relative to those without Down syndrome. These studies demonstrate that a significant percentage of individuals with Down syndrome seem to show the social dysfunctions associated with ASDs, suggesting that the stereotype of the affectionate and outgoing child may not hold true for all individuals with Down syndrome. RELEVANCE: Studies to date report that somewhere between 2% and 10% of individuals with Down syndrome meet criteria for autism or ASD. This variability in reported prevalence rates results from lack of a systematic examination of population-based data to assess prevalence and risk of the comorbidity of these two disorders. A comprehensive study of comorbidity prevalence will make a crucial contribution to the clinical literature on the range of outcomes in individuals with Down syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this proposed study have implications for improving educational and intervention programming. Individuals with Down syndrome usually receive services that target speech, language, nonverbal communication, academic functioning, adaptive behavior, occupational functioning, and motoric development. However, children who present with both autism/ASD and Down syndrome require a different set of intervention and educational approaches. Beyond educational and therapeutic needs, it is important to emphasize how difficult it may be for parents and family members to cope with dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism or ASD. It may be that perhaps 10% of children with Down syndrome present with significant social and communicative difficulty, and that these children and their families will require qualitatively different interventions than other children with the same genetic condition.

autism, down syndrome, prevelance, population based study, core deficits

Training Trainees, Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information

Quality Assurance, Education & Early Intervention, Health-Related Activities

Not Applicable

None

Mulit-County

N/A